Chapter 5

                                    

                                          
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They almost stumbled into the room.
Ethel could barely support the guy, who was getting drowsy from the warmth and whose legs were buckling with every step. Dragging the teenager to the double bed, Ethelstan carefully laid him down on the soft, furry blanket and helped him remove his jacket and shoes. Then he paused, examining the battered face and swollen lips crusted with dried blood.
This exhausted guy looked so pitiful that Ethel felt an overwhelming urge to comfort him.
"Hey, what's your name?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and brushing the dark bangs away from the guy's eyes.
"Rika. And you're Ethelstan, right?"
"Yeah. Just call me Ethel."
"That's a strange and... complicated name. You know...," Rika swallowed hard, "thank you."
"Not at all," Ethel smiled awkwardly, not understanding why he felt embarrassed. "Rest, they'll bring tea soon."
"Just don't leave," the guy asked, touching his hand with cold fingers.
"I wasn't planning to."
"Come on," Rika averted his gaze, looking at the swirling ceiling. "Why would you bother with a drunken ragamuffin like me?"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He felt like he was being tossed on waves, and nausea was rising in his throat. But worst of all was the sharp awareness of his own worthlessness.
"I messed up so badly today," Rikald quietly complained, more to himself than to Ethel, and bit his lower lip, tormenting a barely healed wound. "I was supposed to watch my sister, but I left her, running from the police. And now I'll get expelled from school for fighting. And my mom will kill me when she finds out. I don't know what to do. I'm completely lost."
"Come on," Ethel brought his fingers to the guy's lips, touching them gently to stop him from hurting his already wounded flesh. "A fight, so what? It happens."
"It happens to me a lot," Rika admitted, listening with a racing heart to the new sensations.
"And what, they expel you for every fight?" the young man was surprised. "Even if they do, you can transfer to another school. Don't stress yourself out."
"They won't take me anywhere else. They said one more violation, and I'll be sent to a boarding school. But it's not about school at all."
He sighed, not knowing how to explain to Ethelstan what was boiling inside him.
"I messed up again. And this time, I can't fix it. My mom hates me. Today's incident will be the last straw. I'm sure of it. I bring nothing but trouble to everyone. I don't want to, but it just happens."
Rikald raised his hand and covered his eyes, stinging with tears.
He was so tired of it all.
"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think." Ethelstan clumsily patted guy on the shoulder. 
And Rika nodded.
Maybe from the outside, his problems seemed insignificant, but he didn't see it that way. Still, dumping his emotional turmoil on a stranger didn't feel right, so he decided to keep quiet.
Luckily, at that moment, there was a knock on the door, and Ethelstan got distracted.
The young man opened the door to the waiter and took a tray with two cups of tea from him. Meanwhile, Rika sat up on the bed and wiped away his tears.